Writers are very aware of this thing called a hook. The hook, in reference to literary agents is the line you use to, well, hook them in your query letter. That’s not the only time the hook comes into play. It is generally accepted that a writer, once they actually have a book in print, have only won half the battle; the other half being hooking the reader. It is also generally accepted that a writer has only sixty or so pages in which to do so.

Most books use every last inch of those sixty pages to build toward the books theme and story line, gradually sucking the reader into the remaining three hundred or so pages by getting them invested in the story during those first critical chapters. Very rarely does a writer manage to hook me in the first page, let alone the very first sentence. Alice Sebold takes the prize for the most intriguing opening to a book I have ever had the pleasure to read.

“When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily.”

Eleven words. That’s all. Brief, succinct, and brilliant. Why did she kill her own mother? And for that matter, why did it come so easily? These are the very soul shaking questions the reader is left with as (s)he makes her way through the rest of the page, and inevitably, the entire novel.

Although, soul shaking is nothing new for Sebold. Whatever source of personal anguish/professional insight she has brought to the literary table, Sebold has tapped into that je ne sais quoi, that certain something.

I knew this to be true when I read Sebold’s first book, Lucky. Believe it or not, it was required reading for a seminar course in research methods during my last semester of my undergraduate year. Despite the fact that I was putting the finishing touches on my thesis, and was just barely glancing at other required readings, I gave Lucky a shot. The course focused on ethnography, and the book, I knew, was a memoir about Sebold’s rape while in college. I’ll tell you, as writer, it takes a solid brass set to spill your personal demons on the pages in the manner Sebold did and not have to be swept up off the floor afterwards.

Since then, Sebold has continued to impress with The Lovely Bones, which I hear is being made into a movie. Success then, for a writer, must mean having your words made into images. The Almost Moon could just as easily be brought to film. I, however, wouldn’t watch it. I wouldn’t want to ruin that feeling of urgency I had while reading it, that intense desire to get to the next page, to get more information, to find out what happens to Helen, the murderous daughter. That single brilliant line simply can not be transfered to the screen without losing the magic.

So read it. But be ready to devote twenty four hours to following Helen in the twenty four hours after killing her mother, and all of the baggage, rage, sympathy, and stoic resiliance the book will bring you.

Writer’s Block. That terrible, ever-lurking antithesis to “the flow” of which writers speak is a very real thing. To someone who does not write extensively, it may seem easy to cast the notion off as silly, and inextricably linked to ego, but in reality, it can interupt a writer’s work and frustrate the bejesus out of them. Flow, on the other hand, is that glorious pace a writer can find where the words seem to come from the fingers (or pen) first and the mind later. It’s a constant race to keep up with yourself before the next moment flutters out of your mind like a butterfly and is lost forever. This can last four hours before the writer is broken from the trance and brought back to the reality of dinner that must be made, day jobs that must be worked, and bills that must be paid.

I don’t know what other writer’s do when they experience Writer’s Block. I’ve found sites for writing prompts and ideas, but ultimately a prompt that says “write about a red ball” is unlikely to shake me out of reality, and back into that dream world that writers create for themselves. Someone once told me to keep my head above the clouds. My immediate reaction was that it was mis-phrased; it should have read keep your head out of the clouds. I didn’t understand properly then what was meant by that, but I do now. Above the clouds is where creativity flows, and sometimes it is impossible not to come down, into the clouds, and subsequently back into reality where there is traffic, phones ringing, appointments, and all of the mundane practices that make up this thing we call life.

When I have Writer’s Block, I read. I’m always reading something, and in fact, I can hardly remember a period of time where I wasn’t completely absorbed in one book or another. For the year I wrote literally nothing, I was completely wrapped up in Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series, a seven book monolith that makes The Stand look like a Sunday paper.

This may explain the current state of my bookshelf. I’ve rationalized my Writer’s Block down to a few things, including the fact that I have my first short story making its rounds in literary magazines and contests, and somewhere deep inside me I am waiting for judgement/affirmation. The second cause is related to research. My book-in-progress is deeply rooted in religion, mythology, psychology, and to some extent, sociology. At 20,000 words I simply hit a point where the idea was no longer enough, I needed background knowledge to keep the train chugging along.

So, for a little change, I am offering my weekend reading list.

1984 by George Orwell

Until now, I hadn’t read this book. Not only did I know that I must read it because it is a classic, but the subject matter interests me greatly. I can hardly put it down and it has been dominating my reading for the last week. I plan to finish the last 30 or so pages today. While reading it I have to constantly remind myself that it was written in 1949, and renew my admiration for Orwell’s construction of a future society. As a sociologist at heart, this book is fascinating.

The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold

I found Sebold during a seminar course on Ethnography in my undergraduate degree. Our professor assigned Lucky, a biographical account of her rape while attending college. The Lovely Bones was her next book, which also took me in. I expect The Almost Moon to live up to my expectations of Sebold’s ability to capture me.

2009 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market

Otherwise known as the bible. I am going through this volume painstakingly, absorbing all of the information about the publishing industry I can cram into my 26 year old brain. What are agents, publishers, and editors telling me? How can I use it in the future? I know that I can break down countless boundaries if I am prepared, and I intend to be.

The Lilith Monographs Vol. I: Immaculata by Joshua Seraphim

This is directly related to my book, in which the main character is Lilith, or rather my version of her.

Lilith: The First Eve by Siegmund Hurwitz

See above.

Glimmer Train Spring 2009 Issue 70

Glimmer Train is the first literary magazine I have subscribed to. The first issue arrived in my mailbox on Friday and since then it has been waiting patiently underneath 1984, waiting to be picked up next. I’m reading it partly to learn what other writer’s are selling, to compare as objectively as I can, the quality of the work therein versus my own, and to absorb great literature from the future authors of classics that will come about in my life time. As my writing income grows, so too will my collection of literary magazines. For those who do not subscribe, I highly recommend it.

The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

This is a slow read for me. I can only keep my attention focused on congressional history and legislative process for so long. I also feel this is a necessary read. Obama is an eloquent and moving writer, and knowing full well that he will become known as one of the great thinkers of our time, I am compelled to read through the political jargon to hear the message behind it.

Defending the Damned by Kevin Davis

This was recommended to me by a friend who works in the legal system in the United Kingdom. It focuses on a public defender in Chicago, named Marijane Placek, a “snakeskin boot-wearing, Shakespeare quoting nonconformist.” Needless to say, she knows my taste.

My Bookshelf…

Non-Fiction
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
Defending the Damned by Kevin Davis
2010 Writer's Market Deluxe Edition
The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power by Jeff Sharlet
The Purity Myth by Jessica Valenti